Can I simply blame Naruto?
by its.just.plain.toast.for.me
Summary: Set at the start of Shippuuden when Temari leaves Konoha early in the morning. Why was it she left again? Maybe a her 'guide' could shed some light on it. ShikaTema if you haven't guessed


**AN: Hey! Thanks for clicking the link =D**

**It would be great if you would keep going now and read my fic =p**

**So basically I had watched this clip on Youtube where Temari was leaving early to return to Suna and Shikamaru was waiting outside for her. Then saw the clip of Naruto asking if they were out on a date. And well Temari's reply got me thinking and I thought 'Wow it would be great if that scene when she left early was like the next day! I could totally come up with a scenario for why she left so early' This was then followed by one of those evil little laughs that makes the people they're directed at nervous.**

**So I started watching Shippuden a few days ago and had a mini fangirl attack when my hopes came true! So I gave in and I wrote it =D**

**Hope you enjoy it as much as I do =D**

**Also please note this wasn't really proof read so I'm sorry for spelling and grammar errors =s**

* * *

Temari finished tying her head band back on after doing her hair before glancing around the room to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, though she already knew she hadn't. She adjusted her fan next.

"Okay."

There was no one around but she felt the need to say it. Something to bring her focus back to the now and to remind her to walk out the door.

She glanced around the room a final time, still trying to find a reason to procrastinate. When she couldn't find one stong enough she turned and walked from her room.

It should have only taken three minutes to walk down the corridor, leave her key at reception and go out the door, but Temari had slowed her pace. Not that she had planned it like that, more she just had a feeling to take her time. Like something in her subconcious knew something she didn't... Or at least hoped it did...

Whether it did or not. Something had made her slow down her pace and later she would think back and quietly thank whatever it was. Those next few moments would be the closest thing to a highlight that she would have that day.

She had just left the building when it happened.

"What're you doing up so early?" A voice called from the ally next to the inn.

She froze instantly, recognising the voice. She looked over to see Shikamaru leaning against the wall, looking uninterested as usual. Temari would have said that it was because he had no interest or passion but not anymore...

He reached a hand up to yawn. If Temari hadn't been so shocked to see him she probably would have laughed, knowing the reason he was tired.

"Everyone's still sleeping."

She had figured as much and had been thankful for it half an hour earlier as she had made her way back to the inn. Though she had also figured he would be among them...

Her voice came out weak as he started to walk over to join her.

"You..." She said simply.

After a moment however her voice came back stronger and she answered his previous qustion.

"I can't stay away from my village too long. I figured I should leave as soon as I finished my business here," she replied beginning to walk down the street with him.

It wasn't the whole truth and they both knew it.

"Without even eating breakfast?"

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him look at her. They both knew he wasn't asking about breakfast. He was wondering why she had been gone when he woke up. She knew what the answer. He probably did too but she decided to play oblivious to the question's underlying message.

"I'll find a tea shop or something along the way."

She would have prefered to end that conversation completely there and then but she had to find out why he had come after her.

"So what are you doing here?"

He smiled slightly as he replied.

"It's a pain, but I'm supposed to be your guide for the most part. It sucks, but it's still my mission."

She hadn't answered his question and now he was doing the same to her. He infuriated her sometimes.

_'Troublesome...'_ she thought to herself and couldn't help but laugh softly at it. She had been spending so much time with him lately. Something Kankuro had noticed after her last trip to Konoha... What would he think now if he knew...

"Well, you did a great job."

It was true he had been a good guide. As lazy as he was he was always alert and even seemed interested in answering her various questions about the village.

But like many of the statements and questions in their conversation so far, this too had an underlying meaning. Temari would never admit it straight out but last night, she knew, would be something she would play over again and again. She had gone through it when she woke up that morning. When she had gathered as much of her things as she could find lying around his room. When she had closed the door behind her. When she had made her way back to the inn. When she had been looking for her reason to wait those few minutes longer in her room.

* * *

_It had started out a fairly normal day for them. He had picked her up from the inn and they had then gone on to work on the Chuunin exams. Everything changed when Naruto had showed up. Temari often could not believe that there was someone less subtle then Kankuro..._

_"So? Are the two of you on a date?"_

_the question haad shocked both of them. Sure they enjoyed each other's company, they worked well together on missions, they even enjoyed bickering playfully with each other, but the thought of them as a couple had never crossed her mind..._

_Shikamaru seemed to get over the surprise of the question first and answered._

_"It's not like that."_

_Obviously he thought the same._

_"Quit joking. Why would I go on a date with someone like him? The Chuunin exams are soon. I've been bouncing back between the Sand and Konoha as I take care of the preparations," Temari added quickly. It was true for the most part. He was only a Chuunin. She was a Jounin. She would never settle for someone below her in rank, no matter how well they got on. She put off by the ranks. They were Chuunins for a reason. They weren't strong enough or smart enough for her. She didn't want someone that felt she was their superior. There weren't many who would stand up against her in a debate. She wanted someone who stood up for themselves, who wasn't afraid of her. She had enough of that from the villagers of Suna. They were afraid of her... She was a skilled ninja... She was also the older sister of Gaara which didn't help her case..._

_"And it's a pain, but when I started working for the exams, I was told to be the Sand Ambassador's guide," Shikamaru was saying._

_'A pain...' that's what she was to him. He had started working for the exams late and been assigned to her more out of not knowing what else to do with him then being best suited to it._

_"... this person..."_

_Shikamaru pointed at her. What she didn't even get a name now? Really there were times she just wanted to hit him._

_After this hiccup their usual day seemed to change that small bit. Things got a little more forced.. awkward. She was frustrated with him and he didn't know how to act but towards the end of the day they had slipped back into their old routine. That is until..._

_"Do you want to come over to my place?"_

_Temari's head snapped up as Shikamaru asked. She looked at him questioningly._

_He scratched the back of his neck and looked off to the side._

_"Well your leaving tomorrow right? So I thought that maybe... I don't know... you've been wanting that rematch so we might have a game of Shoji or something..."_

_Temari smiled slightly at this. Though her previous annoyance at him hadn't fully faded, he was kind of cute when he acting like an awkward teenager. Even though she knew he was three years younger then her and was in fact a teenager, he always held a maturity beyond his years._

_"Okay then. You're on. Be warned though if you start to cry when I beat you I won't hold your hand and help you blow your nose," she teased him with a smirk which he returned._

_Temari felt something warm in her stomach on seeing this, but quenched it. _

'He's a Chuunin. Three years younger then me.'

_She blamed Naruto for this. Planting the idea of them being attracted to each other, being a couple even, in her head..._

_"If you beat me," Shikamaru said, smirk fixed clearly on his face as he looked at her, "I may have to reconsider my opinions on women."_

_She hit him in the shoulder. Not hard, more playfully._

_"All the more reason to beat you then."_

_"Hard luck," Shikamaru commented as he moved his final piece, ending both the game and the silence that had fallen over the shouji board since they had begun playing._

_Temari scowled at the board, then at Shikamaru. She hated losing. It meant that she wasn't the best at something. That someone was better then her._

_"You upset that you didn't get to gloat?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow while he smirked._

_This only caused her scowl to intensify. He sighed dropping his head to his chest and closing his eyes._

_"Troublesome..." He muttered._

_"Why?"_

_He looked up confused._

_She had asked without really realizing she had asked it. He looked at her as if asking for her to elaborate. So she did._

_"Why do you find me so 'troublesome'? I mean we get on well, but still every time we're together you end up calling me that."_

_Temari wasn't sure why she was suddenly so interested in this. Maybe it was because of Naruto's comments or maybe it was because she didn't want to be 'troublesome' to him. Maybe she wanted more..._

_Shikamaru looked into her eyes. She looked into his in return and saw him trying to figure something out behind them. The intensity of her stare though made him look away. She looked away as well, embarrassed at her forwardness... a first for her. His voice however brought her gaze back up to his._

_"Your troublesome because..."_

_He was now the one with the intense stare, looking right through her._

_It froze her._

_"... every time I see you..."_

_She noticed the distance between them closing._

_"... I want to..."_

_They drew nearer and nearer._

_"... do this..."_

_They were barely inches apart. Slowly he reached his hand up to her face to stroke it. Temari felt herself blush as he did._

_Then he leaned in closing the distance and kissed her gently on the lips._

_She closed her eyes as she returned the kiss. After a moment he pulled away. He looked at the ground, blushing slightly._

_Sweet. That's the word she would use to describe it... and tender.. and... perfect..._

_It was silent in his apartment. Temari couldn't bear it... it let her mind drift freely to places she wanted it to avoid._

'He's a Chuunin... three years younger... But he can beat me... He's saved my ass... He doesn't care if I disagree with him...'

_"Shika..." She started. He looked up at her and she didn't care anymore, not right then at least._

_She reached out and pulled him towards her, crushing him in a kiss. He seemed startled at first but then he responded just as eagerly._

_He pushed the shouji board out of the way and she leaned into him, pushing him back until he was lying back on the floor with her on top of him._

_And as that old saying goes _'one thing lead to another... which lead to another... and then... I woke up in his bed.'

* * *

Eventually they reached the main gates and Temari decided it was as good a time as any to break the silence.

"This is fine."

It wasn't fine. She hated that they were both stubborn... Hated that she was too stubborn to just admit that maybe her feelings towards him had changed in the space of a day... heck that she even had any form of feelings towards him. It was silly. She also hated silly...

"The next time I'll see you will be at the Chuunin Exam, right?"

She looked over at him and smiled. She'd face it then. Till then though she'd just have to come up with a strategy on how she would do it.

"Yeah, see you around."

She began to walk away from the village. Yes... She hated acting silly...

She stopped a few meters away and heard Shikamaru give a questioning grunt behind her. She turned around. She had been acting silly and stubborn, yes, but she knew that there was a reason deep down.

"You need to hurry up and become a Jounin. You should be able to do it quickly if you stop complaining and start taking your missions serioulsy."

Shikamaru let out a confused sound, before awkardly rubbing the back of his neck. Temari smirked at his reaction before turning back. she hoped he would understand the unlying message behind her words.

"What a pain.."

The wind carried his final statement to her as she started her journey home. And she knew he understood it.

_Hurry up and become a Jounin_

_That way at least I won't have to feel guitly about you..._

* * *

**AN: Lol so what did you? All reviews welcome =D**

**Also I have a sequel of sorts in mind for this. It's more a bunch of one shots from Shikamaru's point of view revolving around this. So if you're interested please say so because if no one's interested there's not much point in posting it. This is now posted =] You can find it in my profile under "Different Sides"**

**Another little side note. I think as a ShikaTema song "Make You Smile" by +44 is really nice. =]**


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